Telcos’ Social Obligation
Telecoms ministry to finalise rules for Tk 330cr fund
The posts and telecommunications ministry is likely to finalise the Social Obligation Fund Regulation to ensure the effective use of Tk 330 crore fund contributed by mobile phone operators.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has sent a draft to the telecom ministry which is awaiting approval of the law ministry.‘We sent the draft to the law ministry for vetting. The law ministry has some queries which the BTRC cleared recently. I hope the draft will be finalised soon after the law ministry approval,’ telecom secretary Abu Baker Siddique told New Age on Wednesday.
He said the fund would be operated by the BTRC and will be used for different infrastructure building for better telecommunication and internet network across the country.
‘For example, an area is deprived of telecom or internet service because of lack of electricity. Now, we will help to bring electricity to that area using the SOF fund,’ he said.
He said the regulations were prepared considering the best use of the fund through various government agencies.
BTRC officials said among the total Tk 330 crore, Grameenphone contributed Tk 170 crore, Robi and Banglalink each Tk 70 crore and Airtel contributed Tk 20 crore.
They said the state-run Teletalk and private operator Citycell did not contribute to the SOF fund although it is mandatory for the telecom operators to contribute 1 per cent of their yearly total gross revenue to the fund.
The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh in late December requested the telecom ministry to engage the telecom operators with the rules formulation process.
In a letter to the ministry, they said the SOF fund is set to be used for the areas which are deprived of mobile networks but except the Sundarbans there are no other area in the country which falls under this category.
‘So the industry view is required to make sure the most appropriate use of the fund,’ it said.
The AMTOB stressed on selection of projects, preparation of specification, tendering process for supplier selection, work order issuance, project follow up etc while preparing the rules.
-With New Age input
